5 Valuable Tips For The Spring Seller

With Spring right upon us, the real estate market is sure to heat up.  If  you are considering putting your home on the market, or it has been on the market since before the new year, I will share with you 5 valuable tips to help you rake in those offers.

1. De-clutter Your Home

We all tend to collect extra items during the holiday season, and surround ourselves with more unnecessary “rick-rack” during these cooler months.  The additional clutter inside our homes can turn off even the most motivated buyer.  Spring is a great time to sort through your home and remove any unnecessary items from your living space, closets, and garage.

You can always pack up your favorite things that have accumulated and store them in an attic or basement.  Items that you are willing to part with, such as clothing that is out of style or no longer fits, decor that you have become tiresome of, and anything else with life left in it, can be donated.  This will clear out some space and can give you a tax write off for April 15th.

As you remove items, you will also be giving the prospective Buyers a better view of where their belongings will fit, if they were to purchase your home.

2. Light & Bright Decor

Spring is a great time to pull out the light, breezy and most colorful items of decor that you may have for your home.  Start by adding some colorful throw pillows, area rugs and bedding. A few pops of color here and there can change the way an entire room feels with minimal expense and labor on your part.  Don’t limit color and pizazz to one or two main rooms, in addition the kitchen is often a forgotten place to add decor. Buyer’s tend to gravitate toward the kitchen on showing appointments, therefore don’t be afraid to jazz it up.  Most of all, remember, a little goes a long way in decorating.

3. Step Outside

When Buyers look at Homes For Sale in your area, you want to get a jump on the competitions curb appeal.  By adding a few colorful bedding plants, and mowing the grass, your yard will come alive!  Take inventory of dirty sidewalks, driveways and the exterior of your home.  If need be, hire a professional to pressure wash away the winter.  If you want to save some cash, you can rent a pressure washer at your local hardware store, and do the work yourself.

4. Don’t Miss A Great Photo Op

Whether or not your home is a new, or existing listing, be sure to check your online photos. , This is a great time to take current photos, especially relevant if your photographs are from the cooler months.  By now, you have spruced up the curb appeal, added color and cleaned, mowed and mulched, so use that hard work to your marketing advantage.  In addition to updating your exterior photos, use this opportunity to snap some current shots of the interior of your home.  Ask your REALTOR® to come back out and update your online images.

5. Priced To Sell

In conclusion, Spring is a great time to put your home on the market. Make selling your home a breeze, by following these tips, and more that can be found at www.nolahomesearch.com.

What Your REALTORS Owes You – Their Fiduciary Responsibility

What in the world is a Fiduciary?

Fiduciary.  What does that mean?  This strange word has an extremely important meaning, one which I hope this article helps more owners of real estate property understand when they’re getting ready to hire their next real estate agent or broker.

Fiduciary, pronounced “fah-doo-she-air-ee”, is a Latin word which literally means “to trust”.  Here in the US, in many practices such as Law, Real Estate, Finance, and a host of other professions, a person in a fiduciary role is someone who not only has a moral obligation, but almost always, a legal obligation to act in a trustworthy manner, putting the client’s financial interests ahead of his or her own.  On the surface it may seem simplistic, but to fully understand one’s fiduciary responsibility, one has to recognize the scope and breadth that this strange little Latin word brings to the table.  In practice, it means that whoever you’re trusting with your money, health, safety, etc., they have the literal and legal obligation to put their clients’ interest in front of their own.

Fiduciary in Real Estate

Admittedly, the real estate profession can be difficult, demanding, and downright drudgery, but that doesn’t matter when it comes to the law and the REALTOR’s obligations to his or her client.  It can be said a thousand times over, anyone in a fiduciary role must have the ability to put their client’s financial interests first.  This can be difficult for many real estate agents to understand, and even harder for them to follow.  Not to disparage the majority of honest upstanding real estate professionals, it’s not a far stretch to say that a lot of agents get caught up focusing on their own personal profits and interests first.

Why wouldn’t they?  They’re doing all the work, right?  Well yes, but that work is provided by and purely for the benefit of the home seller or home buyer first.  The agent is no more than second in line.  How does this get complicated?  Well, any and all agents involved in a sales or purchase deal have to be able to balance the fiduciary responsibility of their clients.  Every real estate agent must clearly understand that both sides, buyer and seller, have different goals, needs, wants, and interests.  A buyer, searching for homes for sale wants to get the best deal possible, which often translates into the lowest price possible.  A seller also wants to get the best deal possible, but to them, the highest price is usually more what they’re looking for.  So how do real estate agents get the highest price for the seller, while still getting the lowest price for the buyer?  Well, let’s just say it’s more of an art than a science.

The Sides of a Real Estate Sale

In the majority of home sales transactions, there are usually two agents involved.  One who represents the buyer and another who represents the seller.  In this situation, both agents have to negotiate together to get to the best middle ground deal between what each of their clients wants.  There is always give and take in home sales transactions.  One side gives a little, the other side takes a little, then the tables turn and then the process repeats itself again until a final, final agreement is struck.  Real estate agents do work hard for their money, and contrary to some opinions, they are not overpaid for their services.  Negotiations can be difficult, time consuming, and a royal pain in the butt.  Things can even be harder when one agent is new or inexperienced and the other agent has to take a leadership role guiding his/her equally paid counterpart through every aspect of the settlement.  But at the end of the day, the deal that gets struck has to benefit the client first.

What Your Real Estate Agent Owes You

Your REALTOR owes you a fiduciary, meaning they should always have your best interests BEFORE their own.  If it comes down to buying the home of your dreams in Lakeview, but your agent has another home for sale in which they would make more money, they owe it to you to put you in the home that fits you best…legally.

Fannie Mae Now Offering Mortgages to Ghosts

This may immediately have you think back to the days of getting a mortgage for your home with no documentation and putting nothing down, but it looks like it will be a little different this time.

In the financial world, anyone who has no credit and no credit score has been called “a ghost”.  So this headline may not be quite as onerous as it sounds.  One may ask “how can you possibly provide a 30 year mortgage without checking someone’s credit score”.  Well, it’s important to keep in mind, we didn’t have official “credit scores for mortgages” until around 1995.  Home buyers were able to secure a mortgage before then.

How Will Fannie Mae Provide No Credit Report Mortgages?

Fannie will be utilizing a manual process for people requesting a no credit report mortgage.  They will still run a credit report on you, but if the report (from Equifax, Experian or TransUnion) comes back without a credit score, which the case is for people with very little or no credit (ghosts), they now have a new process.  Before, if you didn’t have a credit score, you were immediately disqualified from obtaining a mortgage.

Minimums to Qualify For a Loan

There are some minimum requirements that a ghost will need in order to be approved for a mortgage by Fannie Mae.  You will need a minimum of 10% down payment. This is more than many of the Fannie Mae mortgages, but since the risk goes up without a credit report, you will need more down.  The good side of that is 100% of your 10% down payment can be in the form of a non-repayable gift.  In addition, you will need to live in the home (be your primary residence) and the maximum you qualify for will be $417,000.  Needless to say, speak with your loan officer for all of the details for qualifying for a Fannie May mortgage.

How Will This Affect Lakeview Sales?

“With the influx of a younger generation looking for Lakeview homes for sale, this can be a tremendous boost for Lakeview real estate” says Kathy Marshall of Engel & Völkers, a leading real estate broker in Lakeview New Orleans.  This opens an opportunity to home ownership to a younger generation that may not have established credit, but otherwise a good financial risk.

Why Would Fannie Mae Do This?

Stan Baldwin of Credit Report Seller Information Research said “Thirty percent of bureau data is inaccurate”.  This can cause many otherwise qualified people to not be able to obtain financing on their new home.  Also, with many newcomers to credit, Fannie May doesn’t want to limit potential homeowners, that simply may not have too much credit history, from obtaining home ownership.

What About The Interest Rate?

If you are a ghost and have no credit score, Fannie Mae will put you in their lowest allowable FICO bucket, which is 620.  Since they are simply “assigning you a credit score”, they are putting you in at the low end of the spectrum.  For people (ghosts and otherwise) that get Fannie May approval at the 620 FICO score level will get a hit to the rate of 0.625.  Although people with a credit score of 620 do pay a higher interest rate, considering rates are at historic lows still makes home ownership very affordable.

Is Readily Available?

Keep in mind that a mortgage insurance company needs to insure the remainder of the loan.  That being said, as of now, only Radian and Arch are currently writing mortgage insurance on these types of loan approvals.  Currently Radian is pricing these mortgage insurance rates at 1.10 % above your base interest rate, which seems very affordable.  As more mortgage insurance companies come on line, we expect to see this loan product more widely used.

Using a Real Estate Agent to buy Your Next Home

As the old adage goes, your home is your castle. Your home, after all, is where you will raise your family, grow old surrounded by your loved ones, and throughout your working life, squirrel away equity in order to live as comfortably as possible in retirement. Finding the right home, is in this case, of paramount importance. The only question is, should you use a dedicated real estate agent to find and buy your next property? Or should you risk attempting to search and buy your next home directly from a current home owner or property developer?

Why New Orleans Realtors Still Get Buyers The Best Deals

Are you and your family looking to buy property in Lakeview, New Orleans? If so, you benefit from potentially buying property in one of the most enviable suburban areas in the city. However, unless you have the time and resources to become a property agent yourself, your likely going to find it inordinately difficult to find the home of your dreams without the help of a professional real estate agent.

This is because the dream of home-ownership differs significantly from the practical reality of being able to tell the difference between the right property and the wrong property for you and your family.

Getting The Best Price Possible

To demonstrate, the past eight years have been some of the most turbulent ever, not just in New Orleans but all over the US. 2008 saw millions of homes across America flatline in value. Worse, millions more slipped all the way into negative equity. Of course, the housing market has recovered in leaps and bounds ever since. However, the last thing that you want is to invest in a property where existing property owners present you with what you might not realize is an unreasonable asking price.

Kathy Marshall and other New Orleans real estate agents know the New Orleans housing market inside out. We know what a fair price is. In like regard, we know where in Lakeview you will stand to see your new home appreciate better in value over time.

However, licensed real estate agents also benefit from being able to access to the MLS database. Using the MLS database, a Louisiana REALTOR can subsequently find homes for sale which meet your ideal specifications, are within your budget, and which are ideal for both residential and investment purposes.

We Protect you & Help You Make More Informed Buying Choices  

In many ways, part of a real estate agents job is to protect new home buyers from making impulsive decisions which they might come to regret later. Of course, prevailing fallacies often imply otherwise. However, National Association of Realtors (NAR) realtors, are duty bound put home buyers interests first in any and every real estate transaction. This means that realtors are bound to advertise properties honestly. This and fully disclose everything from known structural problems to any reasons why a property might be priced to sell faster than usual.

In fact, as well as always being able to identify an overpriced property, a real estate agent will often even go so far as to insist (on your behalf) that any necessary repairs are made to a property prior to you agreeing to purchase. 

Completely Free & 100% Personal Service

The best part about using a real estate agent to help you fall in love with your next property is that you can benefit from local realtor services completely free of charge. What this means is that you get second to none local area expertise coupled with all the help you need to close a sale, as part of what is essentially a gratis service. In this case, don’t try and do thinks the hard way. Reach out today for the professional assistance you deserve and will be able to rely upon, no matter how easy or arduous your next property search.  

First Time Homebuyers

A Complete Guide

Home ownership is the American Dream, but as a first time home  buyer, the purchasing of your first home can seem overwhelming.  Although there is a tremendous amount of information on buying a home available, there are few complete guides that walk you through the entire process of becoming a homeowner.  No two real estate transactions are the same and very few of them go off without a hitch.  With years of experience in real estate, assisting many people with their first home purchase, we thought we would provide the complete guide for first time home buyers.

Deciding to Buy a Home

Many potential home buyers will start the process by searching homes for sale on the internet.  Although this can be fun, if you are serious about purchasing a home, you will want to be methodical in your steps to home ownership. Home ownership is not for everyone.  For some people, renting a home can be a better plan.  Its best sit down and truly see if owning a home is the right thing for you.  Here is a quick list of things you will want to think about when considering such a large purchase.

You Will Want to Examine How Long You Will Be Living in Your Area.

If you have any inclination to move in the immediate future, renting may be a better option for you.  If you have a job that may force you to leave town, you may not want to be tied down to a home mortgage.  On the other hand, if you feel confident you will continue to live in your current city, or if your job offers relocation assistance, you may want to take advantage of the benefits of home ownership.  If you plan on staying in your current city for an extended period of time, purchasing your first home will start to build equity and long term wealth for you and your family.

Make Sure You Can Financially Sustain a Home

Although in many instances, the note on a new house can be comparable to rents, there are additional costs you will incur.  You will need to pay for homeowners, and possibly flood insurance.  You will most likely incur some sort of a tax bill on your new home.  Lastly, you will need to plan for maintenance and upkeep of your new home.  We have a quick tip on assisting with unexpected repairs, but we will get to that later.

Check Your Credit Score

Many people think they have better credit than they truly do.  It can be easy to forget about a past cell phone bill where you were upset with your carrier and refused to pay!  It’s also not terribly uncommon to have identity theft or a simple credit “mix up” affect your score.  Even the smallest credit infractions can cause you to pay a higher interest rate or even not qualify for a mortgage. Today, it’s easy to get an idea of what is on your personal credit report.  You can first use one of the many free credit reporting services to get an idea of where you stand.  Be aware that these types of credit reporting systems may not be 100% inclusive or give you the most accurate FICO Score, but they are a good start.  Down the road, your mortgage broker will pull a true credit score with all three reporting agencies and let you know exactly where you stand.  If you see anything out of the ordinary in your preliminary credit report, you will want to follow up immediately with the credit reporting agency that shows the error.  These things can take some time to get cleared up.

Find a Mortgage Lender

Finding the right mortgage lender is a critical piece in buying your first home.  In many instances, having the wrong lender can cost you more than overpaying for your home.  As a general rule, you will want to find a local lender, someone that you can meet with face to face.  Your lender needs to be acutely aware of your financial situation and your long term financial goals.  You will want to have someone that comes highly recommended as they must be trustworthy in that they put you into the correct mortgage product.  There are hundreds of options in financing your first home, you can’t be aware of all of the details and will need to rely on the expertise of your mortgage lender.

The Difference Between a Mortgage Broker and a Banker

Many first time home buyers believe that it’s better to go directly to their bank to get their home mortgage.  Although this may be true in some instances, it’s important to know the difference between a bank and a Mortgage Broker.  A bank can give very good rates ON THE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS THEY OFFER.  Most banks have a niche that they cater to, meaning they offer very good deals to a specific borrower.  If you happen to fit that specific mold, your bank may be a good option.  On the other hand, a mortgage broker has many banks and lending institutions that they work with.  They look at your specific financial situation and find the best rate from one of their affiliates.  In many instances, although a mortgage broker has to make some money in the middle, their ability to “shop your loan”, understanding your unique financial situation, can save you money in the long run.

Set Your Budget For Your New Home

Once you have decided on a lender, they will work with you on figuring out exactly how much of a home you can afford.  They will look at your debt to income ratio and a variety of other factors to come up with a monthly mortgage note that you can pay each and every month without putting yourself in a bind.  Once you know the amount you can spend per month, you can then work a little backwards to see what homes for sale you can purchase.  Whether your lender does it for you or you do it yourself, you will want to use an amortization chart to see how expensive of a home you can purchase.  These types of mortgage calculators take into account your down payment and interest rate to show how much of a home your specific circumstance can buy.  You will want to make sure to add in your taxes and your insurance too in an effort to get a full picture.

Get a Pre-Approval Letter

Once you know how much money you can spend on your new home, you will want your lender to provide you with a pre-approval letter.  This is a simple document that shows you have had your credit run and spoken with a lender, who is claiming they will finance your new home for a specific dollar amount. This document will be submitted when you write an offer on a home.  It simply shows that you can purchase the home you are making an offer on, and is a very important part in the home buying process.

This is the first installment of First Time Home buyers – A Complete Guide.  We will update this exact post weekly until fully completed.  In the meantime, if you need immediate assistance for purchasing your first home, feel free to Contact Us directly and we will walk you through the process.

• Deciding To Buy A Home
• Checking Your Credit Score
• Finding a Mortgage Lender
• Setting Up Your Budget
• Getting a Pre-Approval Letter

These are the first things that you need in place if you are considering buying your first home.  In Part 2, we will cover the remainder of the home buying process.

Find An Agent

Many first time home-buyers toy with the idea of not using a real estate agent to purchase their first home.  Many feel that somehow, they will get a “better deal” on a home if an agent is not involved.  This cant be further from the truth.

First of all, using an agent to buy a home is absolutely free from the buyers perspective.  The seller, when listing their home for sale, factors in both the buyers side agent commission as well as the listing agents commission.  So when a purchaser makes an offer on the home of their dreams, the final negotiated price is what you will pay.  The commission comes out of the proceeds from the buyers side.  Because of this, many first time home buyers believe that if they find a home that is NOT listed for sale with a real estate agent, they could “save that commission”.  Let’s go over a couple reasons why that doesn’t work.

First, when a seller chooses to attempt to sell their home without an agent, they are usually doing so to “save the commission”.  Although statistically, it is proven year over year, that using an agent to sell a home nets the seller more money. That being said, some sellers do insist to attempt to sell their home on their own.  Keep in mind, if you are looking at a home, where the seller choose NOT to use a REALTOR, they did so to attempt to save the commission.  Remember back, you are doing the same thing from the buyer perspective.  What you end up with is a seller, who is attempting to make MORE money and a buyer trying to save a commission. There is ONLY ONE COMMISSION — BOTH THE BUYER AND SELLER CANT SAVE IT.  In addition, usually the perspective of the For Sale By Owner is one of getting a higher amount for their home than recommended by an agent.  This means that your agent (from the buyer’s side) would generally say that home is overpriced.  You wouldn’t have that knowledge going in.  In addition, the home buying process can be very tricky, with a lot of money on the line.  You have NO ROOM FOR MISTAKES as they can cost you quite a bit.   We can go on forever all of the reasons to use an agent when purchasing your home, but that would be an entirely new post.

When choosing your agent, it’s important that you pick a REALTOR who is familiar with the area that you want to live.  For instance, if you are looking to buy a home in Lakeview, you would want to use an agent that specializes in Lakeview homes for sale. Each area of New Orleans has its own unique circumstances when purchasing a home and you will want someone familiar with the specifics of your new subdivision.

Set Up Your Property Search

Once you have decided on an agent, you will want them to set you up with a property search.  Needless to say, feel free to search the internet for homes for sale yourself, but understand that websites such as Zillow and Trulia DO NOT HAVE ALL OF THE LISTINGS!  Also, if you are using one of those 3rd party websites, many of the homes you see for sale have already been sold or expired.  The ONLY way to gain access to all of the homes for sale is to have your REALTOR send those to you, or to use a real estate website that is directly connected to the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  Only local real estate agents and broker have access directly to the MLS, so ask your REALTOR for some examples of good online search portals.

In addition to searching for homes yourself, your agent should have you set up to automatically receive new listings that come available that specifically fit your search criteria.  This is a critical step in the home buying process.  The hottest and best real estate deals go quickly, so being notified immediately when a new home suits you is important.  If upon looking at the home online, you think it’s a good possibility, let your agent know so they can set up an appointment to view the home ASAP. In some instances, your real estate agent may have already seen the property and can provide some valuable insight.

Placing an Offer On Your New Home

Once you have found the home you wish to purchase, you will want to place an offer.  DO NOT LOWBALL YOUR FIRST OFFER!  Many first time home-buyers think this is a good idea, but in truth it simply creates a bad starting point for negotiations.  Most sellers are emotionally attached to their home and to give a very low offer is insulting.  Have your agent review sold comparables to see how much off the listing price homes are currently selling for in your area.  Have your agent do a CMA on the home to provide its current value.  Lean on your agent for the right first offer.  Some people think that REALTORS want to have you pay more for your home because they make more money—- Nothing can be further from the truth.  First, the amount of additional money an agent makes off of a few thousand dollars is almost nothing.  Good real estate agents understand that a long term client who provides referrals are much better to their bottom line than making an extras $37 dollars on a particular home sale.  In addition, REALTORs have a Fiduciary Responsibility to you, which means they are legally responsible to look out for your best interest above their own.

Get Your Purchase Agreement To Your Lender

One your have finalized the contingencies and price in writing and have a purchase agreement signed by all parties, you will immediately want to get that contract to your lender.  Your lender will have a lot of work to do and this is where they get started.  Be sure to provide your lender with any additional information or documentation that they request IMMEDIATELY.  A very large portion of real estate transactions require at least one extension to the Act of Sale.  In most instances, those extensions are needed because the lender needs information.

Home Inspections

Upon finalizing on the details and price of the home purchase, you will want to set up your home inspections.  When negotiating on your property, your agent has most likely written into the purchase agreement that you will have a period to inspect the home (preferably using a professional home inspector).  Within this period of time, if you find issues with the home you can get out of the contract OR request a reduction in the sales price.  DO NOT use your inspection period as a point of renegotiation unless you find issues with the home that you didn’t see upon viewing it yourself.   This can cause you to lose out on your new home and cause unwanted stress on the sale.  It’s very possible that you may need an extension on your closing date, and the seller will need to approve that in writing….don’t make them an enemy.

Get Insurance Quotes

Since you know the address of your new home, you will need to get the appropriate insurance.  It is usually wise to shop around for the best rate, but make sure that you compare apples to apples.  There are many discount homeowners insurance rates available, but they may not give you the security you need if you ever need to make a claim.  In most instances, your agent can direct you to a reputable insurance agent who will find the right balance between your cost and security.  In addition, your lender will require that a certain amount be insured at the proper levels.

Choose a Title Attorney

You will need to get all of your contracts for the home, as well as your lender information to a Closing Company or Title Attorney.  This is the party that will actually facilitate the closing on your new home.  They will act as an in-between for acquiring your title search, loan documentation, insurance and all needed documentation to buy your home.

Order Your Appraisal

Once you have successfully made it through the inspection period you will want to have your lender order your appraisal.  This too, if not done in a timely manner, can cause a delay in your act of sale.  Keep in mind, any delay or extension to an act of sale must be approved by all parties.  That means you could potentially lose your home and your deposit if the seller chooses to NOT agree to an extension.  Needless to say, there are many contractual details on this, and your REALTOR (who wrote the contract) can walk your through.  Although it can vary from contract to contract, you will generally order your appraisal AFTER your inspections as to avoid paying for an appraisal for a home that you end up not purchasing.  Once again, refer to your agent for details — they are there to protect YOU.

Final Walk Through

Generally speaking, you will want to perform a final walk through of your property either the day of, or the day before your closing.  You will be looking to verify that the home is in the same condition as when you made your offer and that any repairs (per the property inspections) have been completed to your satisfaction.  You will also be verifying that any items you requested to stay in the home are still there.

Attend Your Closing On Your New Home

This is the big day.  This is the day that you sign all of the paperwork and get the keys to your new home.  Make sure to show up to the closing with proper identification and any additional documentation that the closing company or title company may have requested.  In many instances you will also need to bring a certified check (for any additional down payment) to the closing.  DO NOT BRING A PERSONAL CHECK — as they are generally not accepted.

Change The Locks

One of the most overlooked tasks in purchasing a new home is changing the locks.  With all of the excitement and emotions of purchasing your first home, it can easily be overlooked.  Be sure to change ALL of the exterior locks prior to moving in your new home.

Conclusion

Every real estate transaction is unique.  No two sales are identical.  This has been provided to explain the basic steps and processes for buying a home.  It is all but guaranteed that your home purchase will have many aspects to it not mentioned here, but that is why you have an agent to hold your hand and walk you through the process.

5 Famous New Orleans Chefs and their Homes

The Home of Emeril Lagassi

Known for his personality as much as his cooking, Chef Emeril Lagassi is likely the most well known male Chef in the United States.  Emeril gained early fame after replacing Chef Paul Prudhomme as the Executive Chef at Commander’s Palace, a world famous New Orleans restaurant, in 1985 for a period of seven years.  When asked about the origin of his popular catch-phrase, “BAM!”, he credits it to his early days with the cooking show “Essence of Emeril”, which he took on after leaving Commander’s.  Due to Emeril’s demanding shooting schedule, if he thought audience members were getting bored or tired, he would throw out a loud “Bam!” to wake them up.  The phrase caught on and made him famous.  Unfortunately his former New Orleans home didn’t have the same outgoing personality.  Set in the South Lake Pontchartrain neighborhood of Lake Terrace, Emeril’s 50 year old, four bedroom, seven bathroom, 6700 square foot Provincial Style mansion sat on the market unsold for roughly a year and a half before finally selling at the bargain price of $1.4 million, down from an original list price of $1.6 million.  With roughly 1500 square feet of the home reserved as “kitchen space”, featuring all top-of-the-line appliances and amenities, it’s been called a “Chef’s Paradise”, but has been criticized for low ceilings, boring and bland curb appeal, and possibly being located in a flood zone A (although it has never flooded).  Emeril has since relocated to Destin, Florida as his permanent residence, but he regularly commutes to New Orleans to oversee four of his Crescent City restaurants, part of his total of 13 restaurants nationwide.  

The Homes of Paul Prudhomme

Another Chef who rose to fame after becoming the Head Chef at Commander’s Palace in 1975, Chef Paul Prudhomme was world-renowned for Cajun and Creole foods.  Chef Prudhomme passed away in October of 2015, but his legacy continues to this day through his brand of seasonings and spices, and series of eleven cookbooks.  His former home, located in the Marginy neighborhood of NOLA sits not far from the Northern bank of the Mississippi River and just around the corner from the world famous New Orleans French Quarter.  His personal residence at 527 Mandeville Street was a 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 2,688 single story Victorian home.  Upon his passing, Chef Prudhomme had amassed a “compound” of six properties, including 4 single family residences, one home that has been used as his personal experimental kitchen, and one commercial property… all together totaling 10,288 square feet, and for sale at the bargain price of just under $3.4 million.  According to one of Chef Prudhomme’s famous quotes, “You don’t need a silver fork to eat good food”, but you might have needed quite a few of them  to buy his properties.   

The Home of Jamie Shannon

Yet another famous New Orleans Celebrity Chef is the late Jamie Shannon, the Executive Chef at Commander’s Palace who, for 11 years, replaced Emeril Lagasse.  Originally from the small town of Ferndale in Northern Washington, Jamie Shannon made New Orleans, and Commander’s Palace his home twice.  Once as a Sous Chef, then, after a brief departure to Las Vegas, back again to take the helm a second and final time as the Executive Chef.  While the address of Jamie’s home is not readily available, Jamie did live in the Garden District of New Orleans in a Victorian Style pool and garden home during his final years.  His wife was an avid gardener, and he prided himself on using foods and ingredients in the restaurant that were local as much as possible, but not further away than 100 miles from New Orleans.  Jamie Shannon passed away unexpectedly at the young age of 40 following a year’s battle with cancer.  

The Home of Leah Chase

Known as the “Queen of Creole Cuisine”, Leah Chase is more than a chef.  She is and has been a pioneer of racial equality all the way back through New Orleans’ 1950’s and ‘60’s Civil Rights Movements by welcoming, greeting, and feeding just about everyone who came through her doors.  Married into the restaurant business, Leah and her husband, musician, Edgar “Dookie” Chase took over his parents’ home-based po-boy shack, turning it into “Dookie Chase”, a restaurant that has served just about every famous black American who’s ever been to New Orleans, including President Barack Obama, twice.  Dookie Chase and Leah’s house are located in the Treme’, not just one of New Orleans’ oldest neighborhoods, but also considered the oldest African American neighborhood in the nation.  Having spent her entire life right in the middle of it, Leah has received just about every culinary and civil rights award there is, and she’s also been invited to dine at the White House, twice.  Dookie Chase has been known through history, and particularly during tense racial times, as a neutral ground, where blacks and whites could eat together without concern for race… all led by the hospitality, and food, of one Leah Chase.  Despite the income she earns from her highly successful and beloved restaurant, Leah lives in a meager “Shotgun House” next door to Dookies.  A Shotgun house is a specific style of house that is distinctly and widely recognized as exclusively New Orleans.  Shotgun houses are long, narrow rectangular two or three bedroom homes that, traditionally, have one room leading directly into the next, without a hallway, from the front all the way to the back.  Some Shotgun homes have doors separating the rooms, while others have none at all.  It is believed the Shotgun style of home was brought to New Orleans by Haitian immigrants in the late 1700’s, seeking refuge from a resurgence of slavery in what is now modern day Haiti.  The Haitian variety of Shotgun house was not just popular with migrating Haitians, but with Creoles as well.  The Shotgun house works well in warm climates, where you only need open the front and back door to air out the entire house, but its design also creates a demand for interaction with each other, helping develop a strong sense of community in many poor neighborhoods where Shotgun houses were the primary style of home.  Traditionally, a Shotgun home is not more than 12 feet wide, with three to five separate rooms from the front to the back of the house.  Existing white and European cultures who had an established sense of personal privacy eventually modified the Shotgun house to have a hallway running straight down the middle, or all the way down one side.  Either way, due to its inexpensive nature, Shotgun homes became one of the most popular varieties of home to build, not only in New Orleans, but through the entire South from about the 1860’s to the 1920’s.  Older Shotgun homes can be as small as 300 square feet, but later and new construction models average up to about 1000 square feet.  But back in the kitchen, cooking at 92, Leah can be found at Dookie Chase Tuesday through Friday, four days a week; closed Saturday through Monday.  If you’re in New Orleans and aren’t far from the Mid-City or French Quarter areas, I suggest you make some time and stop in for a little taste of history.  

Homes of Justin Wilson

My personal favorite New Orleans Chef, Justin Wilson, most famously known for his catch-phrase, “I ga-ron-tee!”, funny stories, and Cajun cuisine, passed away in September 2001 at the ripe old age of 87.  Famous still today, an early TV cooking show personality, Justin Wilson was known just as much for his humor as he was for his cooking.  As a kid, I learned much of my own Cajun food cooking from his popular Louisiana PBS cooking show, “Louisiana Cookin’”, and I always enjoyed the funny stories he would tell during the breaks.  Many of these clips are still available on YouTube today and are always great to watch, although the accent and dialect can be a challenge for some.  Credited by many as a legitimate Chef, Justin admitted that he was a “professional storyteller first, then maybe a good cook, but never a chef”… he would say “Paul Prudhomme is a Chef.”  Not actually a New Orleans native, Justin Wilson, was born in Roseland, LA, just East of Baton Rouge, and was only technically “half-Cajun”.  Despite his residential and ancestral origins, Chef Wilson was beloved and accepted as a great Cajun Chef throughout all of New Orleans, as well as the state of Louisiana and many cities across the country, including far away cities like Chicago.  Most notoriously, however, Justin, for the last 9 years of his life, lived in one of the most interesting, and scandalous properties of all.  Lost deep in the woods East of Mandeville, the Rankin House sat in partial ruins, incomplete, known to have been built with embezzled funds from jailed William G. Rankin, a member of Governor Huey P. Long’s late 1930’s widely corrupt administration.  The original 11,000 square foot Modern Style mansion, known for clean, straight lines, lack of ornamentation, and streamlined appearance, sat incomplete and in partial ruin, hidden in the Mandeville woods for more than 30 years.  When Justin bought it, he planned to use it as a home, as well as a film set for one of his cooking shows.  The house was in such bad condition, Justin’s Wife, Jeannine Meeds, referred to it as a “shell with trees inside” as some of the rooms still had dirt floors and gaping holes where the windows were supposed to be.

 Children were rumored to have played in the forgotten home for decades, as well as the occasional criminal looking for a temporary hideout.  In ’89, the Wilson’s moved into the Caretaker’s Cottage while the main home was renovated for occupancy.  In ’92, Justin and his wife Jeannine officially moved into the 24 foot tall, 18,000 square foot home, which contained 12 rooms, six of which were bedrooms, two kitchens, a Grand Salon (where Justin’s show, “Louisiana Cooking: At Home”, was filmed for two series’), a spacious second-story living quarters with huge master suite, an even larger office, an elevator, and a basement.  Rankin House was Justin Wilson’s last residence when he passed in 2001.   More recently, the home was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, along with much of the surrounding mature timber; but to save the house a second time, Justin’s widow, Jeannine Meeds, bought a local sawmill and used masses of downed timber in the area to rebuild.  The home now listed on the Louisiana Homes Register of Historic Places. When asked about the place, he said he loved it more than any other home he’d ever lived in… this, he ga-ron-teed.  

Justin Wilson Shows How to Make Dirty Rice

5 Things To Be Aware Of When Selling a Home By Owner

It’s hard to put everything associated with selling a home in NOLA into priority, as to what thing is more important than the other… they are all very important.  Selling a home is complicated and requires extensive knowledge of NOLA real estate, real estate laws, negotiation techniques, and common local sales practices.  It also requires the skill and expertise to deal with unexpected bumps and turns as the sale progresses from start to finish (and if you don’t think unexpected bumps and turns will happen, well, you are either just unaware or possibly deluding yourself).  It’s important to know that, even after a home sale closes, mistakes can come back to haunt you; especially in Louisiana.  Any error made when selling a home can surface years after the deal closes.  Lawsuits are extremely common in real estate, and frequently, they aren’t the cheap kind.  Realtors are trained extensively in how to deal with problems, or even better, how to prevent them; they also have the supervision and assistance of their experienced Manager or Broker to help them when any of the usual or common turbulence arises in just about every home selling transaction.  Owners who intend to self-represent their own sale (For Sale By Owner, or FSBO for short) take risks that they are largely unaware of and frequently expose themselves to problems, including lawsuits, that could easily be avoided if an experienced professional were helping and/or advising them.  

Owners who sell FSBO generally do it for one reason and one reason alone: to save on real estate commissions. So for anyone BRAVE enough to sell “By Owner”, here are 5 important things you really need to know.

Escrow

Escrow is a third-party, usually a title company, whose purpose is to make sure that all terms of your sale are honored, that both parties keep their end of the deal, and not to give legal or real estate advice.  Escrow is not there to “walk you through” selling your home, it is the legal process for closing on your home.  They aren’t legally allowed to give Real Estate advice.  Escrow is there to make sure whatever agreement you make with your Buyer is satisfied to both parties expectations, and not to assist, instruct, or guide either party through the sale in any way.  Many FSBO Sellers mistakenly believe they can get advice and guidance from their Escrow company, but since Escrow companies aren’t licensed to sell homes or give real estate advice, anything you take from them, anything at all, is at your own risk.

Disclosures

Selling a home requires an abundance of disclosures.  Disclosures consist of written documentation of just about anything and everything you know (and some things you don’t) about your home: insurance claims, damage, additions (permitted or not), use or presence of certain specific substances or materials, internal, external, and environmental hazards and/or their proximity to the home, etc.  The list can be exhaustive and broadly comprehensive.  Failure to disclose ALL necessary information could result in a breakdown of the sale, or even worse, a lawsuit, even after the sale closes.  Realtors are trained in disclosures and can help make sure you don’t end up in a pot of hot water.   In Louisiana, we have a mandated property disclosure that must be used in all real estate transactions. Depending on the age of the home, you may be mandated to fill out lead based paint disclosures too.

Redhibition

Technically, redhibition is:

Redhibition is a civil action available under Louisiana law against the seller and/or manufacturer of a defective product, similar to the lemon laws more familiar to common law jurisdictions in other U.S. states.

In a real estate transaction, it means that if an issue is found with the home, even years after the act of sale, the seller can be held responsible.  Most qualified NOLA real estate agents will put a waiver of redhibition in place.

Misrepresentation Hazards

As mentioned in the paragraph above, failure to disclose certain information can result in some hugely unwanted problems.  The only way you could make things worse is to conceal, deny, or misrepresent important information that the buyer is legally entitled to receive.  Misrepresentation and failure to disclose important facts is the number one reason for real estate lawsuits.  If you ever end up on the receiving end of a real estate lawsuit, be prepared to dig deep.  Realtors have insurance to protect and cover them if such things occur, but FSBO Sellers don’t.  It only takes a few hours with a real estate attorney to eat up whatever money (or more), you may have saved by doing it “DIY”.  

Home Inspection

Many diligent home buyers will pay for their own professional home inspection.  Home inspections are done by professional, trained home inspectors who are likely to find more problems with your home than you’d ever expect.  If, during the inspection, any kind of cover-up or mis-representation is discovered, get ready to make things right quickly, or run the chance of the deal falling apart completely.  It’s fair to say that some home buyers may not have the home inspected, but you can’t count on that.  Expect that the home will be inspected, that problems will be found, and that you’ll have to find a way to settle these issues without causing the buyer to walk.   In addition, if you are selling your home in Lakeview, be prepared for the buyer to want a clean WDIR, which stands for Wood Destroying Insect Report.

Be Prepared for Unexpected Problems

It should go without saying that problems have the potential of surfacing (and they frequently do) at any time during your sale, from start to finish… or even after.  Selling a home is a lot like flying an airplane, in the sense that there are a LOT of things you need to know, a LOT of things to be prepared for, and plenty of opportunity for turbulence, delays, and even the occasional “crash and burn”.  Again, a good Realtor is trained in how to handle just about any problem that comes up, and if they aren’t, they have an abundance of resources to draw assistance from.  A Realtor, just like an Airline Pilot, is extensively trained (and usually experienced) to handle problems, and to, no matter what, get the plane landed safely and as close to on-time as possible.  It goes without saying that unexpected problems will arise… they always do… and how well you handle them can make the difference between a safe landing or crashing to the ground.    

Real Estate Commissions

In conclusion, its important to remember that when a home owner chooses to try to sell their home on their own, they are usually doing so to “save the real estate commission”. When a home buyer is looking at FSBO homes (almost always without the assistance of a REALTOR), they too are trying to “save the real estate commission”. The reason that over 90% of homes are sold with the assistance of an agent is because there is only ONE real estate commission, both parties are trying to “save it”. This means you have two sides, both not familiar with the process, both trying to save the same thing. This leads to many deals falling apart at best or a costly lawsuit at worst.

Beginning the process of selling your house can be extremely stressful. But with rising rent costs and cheaper mortgage rates, many people are looking to become homeowners, so if you want to sell your home, now is a good time to do it. In order to help your house sell as quickly as possible, here are 3 helpful tips to consider:

Clean, Declutter and Depersonalize, and Stage Your Home

Possibly one of the most important things you can do to your home before you sell it, is to give it a really great deep clean. When buyers are looking for homes for sale, they don’t want to walk into a house of filth (and if you follow a tip to come about photos, no buyer will because they will see how dirty it is in pictures). Start with the floors—deep clean the carpets, steam clean the tile and wood floors. Move your way up with cleaning the baseboards, doors, and windows. Clean all the light fixtures, door knobs, and light switches. Clean out your vents.

Give quite a bit of focus to the areas of the house buyers will look at most closely—the kitchen and the bathrooms. Buyers don’t want to see mold or grime, they don’t want scummy showers or nasty dishes in the sink.

If you have children or dogs, this might be particularly important. Make sure to deep clean everything, and before every showing be aware of smells. Light a candle (not one too strong) or bake some cookies if you need to!

Another important factor in selling your house is decluttering and depersonalizing. If you need to, rent a storage unit or borrow a kind family members’ garage for a while. You want to accentuate the space in your house. Clean out closets so they are not overflowing, take a bunch of stuff out of your pantry and your kitchen cabinets. If there isn’t quite as much inside, it will give the appearance of being bigger. Also take most or all of the things off of tables and counters.

You also want to hide personal objects, like family pictures, large art, or religious items. The idea of staging your home is to allow the potential buyer to visualize themselves living there—and that can be hard when you have a photo collage of every picture you’ve taken of your 6 year old on the wall. You want to make the home feel lived and to focus on the home’s features.

Staging Your Home

Consider staging your home as well. You probably don’t need a professional, as you can easily change some things around yourself. Have a friend come in and give you their honest opinion about what they like and don’t like. Rearrange your furniture to be more conversational and symmetrical, move some art pieces around, and have a fresh vase of flowers or a bowl of nice fruit on the table. Make sure to freshen things up, too, by replacing or deep cleaning drapes, towels, and rugs.

When staging, don’t forget the outside! Curb appeal is the first thing buyers notice about a house. Add new mulch, mow the grass, and get some fresh flowers planted. Pressure wash the house and driveway, or add a fresh coat of paint to the shutters. And don’t forget the backyard if you have one. Make the potential buyers visualize all of the things they could do in the yard.

Tip: Before you leave the house for a showing, turn on all the lights and open all the curtains, and make sure to open all the doors in closets.

Find the Right Agent

It seems fairly obvious, but one important factor in how quickly your house sells is whether or not you have the right real estate agent. Don’t be afraid to shop around and do your research. Check out online reviews, take a look at their track record, and make sure they advertise your home effectively on multiple listing sites.

It is usually best to find an agent who has worked a lot in your area or neighborhood. For instance, if you are looking for homes in Lakeview, Kathy Marshall has years of experience. They should be familiar with the comps, and should know who is looking in your area (demographics matter—it tells you what they may love or hate about your home). A good agent should also be able to objectively tell you what you need to fix, change, or upgrade in your home to help it sell.

 Good Photos

 Most people start looking for homes online, and two big factors in online house hunting are pictures and wording. If you don’t have multiple good pictures of your home, people are unlikely to schedule a viewing. Many real estate agents will hire professional photographers to take pictures of a home before it is listed.

Don’t forget that you can help market your home, too! Post it on Facebook or ask your friends and neighbors if they know anyone looking to buy. Word of mouth can spread quickly.

Mostly, once you settle on an experienced and good agent to help sell your home, listen to them! They usually know what the best price is to list your home, and they can recommend good times for you to have the house available for showings. And even after you have hired an agent, if they aren’t listening to your needs and aren’t marketing your house well, don’t be afraid to find a new one!

Make Some Small Upgrades

New cabinet hardware and a fresh coat of paint can breathe new life into some old kitchen cabinets. Replace doors handles in the house, fix your faulty lights, and clean out the grout in your kitchen and bathrooms. If you have a little bit more to spend, get new stainless steel appliances for the kitchen—it might set you back a few thousand dollars, but it will sell your home quickly. And it’s definitely cheaper than remodeling the entire kitchen. There’s a big impact from a pretty small upgrade.

Don’t ignore the things that really need to be fixed and addressed. Buyers will probably notice them, and inspectors definitely will.

Putting a little time, effort, and money into your house before listing it can determine just how quickly your home sells. Take a quick look around your house and think like a buyer—would you want to buy your home in the current condition it is in?

We are seeing some good news in that the Fix My Streets task force is looking at options for repairing up to 1,500 miles of streets in NOLA.  With streets all over the city needing repair, we are hoping that —-the streets of Lakeview— will be on the list of roads that they recommend for repair.

Recent City Reports

The plans are coming out spurred by two reports, recently released by the city of New Orleans, on NOLA street conditions.  One of the reports, released on August 28th,  is a detailed look at each and every street in New Orleans and their current condition. That report showed the city will need to spend between $200 million and $350 million each year on capital improvements like road reconstruction and an additional $30 to $35 million annually on street maintenance.

The second pertinent report is a look at the financial options that the city has in raising money to fix NOLA streets.  This report is due sometime in September.

Task Force Meets

The Fix Our Streets task force recently met to discuss how they would use the new city reports to make recommendations to the city. Mich Landrieu had requested that the task force put their recommendations together in an official report.

 “We have yet to sit around and look at one sheet of paper that says this is where the money is coming from and this is where the money is going,” task force member Freddy Yoder, a construction industry executive. “We need to get the word out and put it in simple terms that people can understand.”

The city told the task force has recently hired the PFM Group to start their analysis of the different funding sources that the city could utilize to pay for the street repairs.  The repairing of NOLA streets are expected to cost $5 billion over the next 20 years.

Sources of Street Repair Funds

It has been suggested that property taxes may need to be increased in an effort to raise money to fix the streets in many of the NOLA neighborhoods.  In addition, the city has negotiated with FEMA, a $2 billion dollar settlement for post Katrina infrastructure, but those funds would not be enough to cover the cities current needs.

Other options for raising funds included selling bonds and transportation utility fees as well as tapping the state capital outlay process.  Another option, less likely to make it to the final draft is removing some property tax exemptions for non-profits, but that would require legislative action and voter support.

As of now, it is not clear how the city of New Orleans will raise the additional funds (to the FEMA settlement) for the street repairs, but with the talks ongoing, we hope to see a plan for street repairs soon.

Lakeview is forecast to be one of America’s hottest housing markets

We are all aware that Lakeview has seen a tremendous real estate recovery since Hurricane Katrina.  Now, REALTOR.com is anticipating that the Greater New Orleans area, with Lakeview specifically, will be one of the hottest real estate markets in the country by the end of 2016.

According to REALTOR.com the top 10 metro markets for 2016 are experiencing up to 60% more activity on the listings in their respective markets when compared with the national average.  They claim the top emerging real estate markets in the US to be:

Providence, R.I

St. Louis, MO

San Diego, CA

Sacramento, CA

Atlanta, Ga.

New Orleans – Metairie, LA.

Memphis, TN

Charlotte, NC

Virginia Beach, VA

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA

Realtor.com claims the top ten New Orleans ZIP codes that should see the most activity are: 70115 and 70118 in Uptown and Carrollton, 70124 in Lakeview; 70119 in Mid City New Orleans; 70113 in the CBD; 70125 in Broadmoor; and 70005, 70002, 70113 and 70121 in Metairie around the Lakefront.

Lakeview Real Estate

Kathy Marshall with Engel & Volkers provided some an in depth look at the Lakeview real estate market.  When looking specifically at the 70124 ZIP code which focuses on Lakeview Homes, we have seen some very impressive numbers.  The median sales price of single family homes for sale in 70124 for May of 2014 was $395,505 and as of May of 2016 that number has shot up to $505,000.  That is an increase of over 27% in twelve months.

Lakeview Price Trends

We are seeing an increase in the number of homes for sale in Lakeview.  As a general rule, when the market heats up, you see less inventory, but that is just not the case here in Lakeview.  In May of 2015, we had 119 active properties for sale in 70124, but for May of 2016 that number has went up to 156.  With a median Days on Market of only 36, the homes in Lakeview are selling fast.  To put that statistic in perspective, the median days on market nationwide is 81.

New Orleans Real Estate

One of REALTOR.com’s economist, Johnathan Smoke said said the strengthening market in New Orleans is being driven by job and population growth: the number of households has increased 25 percent faster than the national average as more people move in, and the labor force is growing at twice the national rate. According to REATOR.com currently, New Orleans is the 44th largest real estate market in the country,